


A Huntress Reborn

by Argent_Vulpine



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Character Background, Gen, Mandalorian, Original Character - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-02 14:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20277484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argent_Vulpine/pseuds/Argent_Vulpine
Summary: This version of Zesa is my MMCC character and her backstory. There is another OC of the same name who belongs to the SWTOR universe and who may have fics appearing in the future.





	A Huntress Reborn

Zesa Jare did not always go by that name. No, she once had another life, that of Zareya of the Misty Falls clan. A witch of Dathomir; at least, that had been the plan for her. It hadn't been a _bad_ plan, either, and she would have been content enough.

Trained as a warrior since she was old enough to hold a stick, Zareya was no stranger to battle. Sensitive to the Force, she was always meant to become a witch, like her mother and her sisters. However, she didn’t want that life. She’d heard stories of the worlds beyond her home planet, the galaxy in all its splendor, and she wanted to see it for herself.

Zareya spent much of her time away from the clan, when she could. Hunting, waiting, practicing.

She raised her rancor – Ashya – dutifully, hunted wild ones to tame or – if that failed – to kill. She liked the thrill of the hunt, the chase, the stalking, the victory over these creatures, whether that victory was defeating their spirit and claiming it for herself, or in the bloody aftermath of a kill.

It was on one such hunt when she was found by Kosta Luur, a Mandalorian who had come to Dathomir for a rancor. Perhaps it was fate that brought them together; Kosta had set her sights on Zareya’s own rancor, and Zareya – fiercely protective of Ashya – engaged Kosta in battle.

It was a close fight, though one that Zareya ultimately lost. Still, her skill as a warrior and her loyalty to her rancor Ashya – if not her clan – drew Kosta’s interest.

Zareya was made an offer: join the Mandalorians and Kosta’s _aliit_.

It was not an easy choice. While the young woman had yearned to leave Dathomir, the thought of abandoning her clan was unsettling.

They spent the next several days traveling together, giving Zareya an opportunity to get to know Kosta Luur better, something she’d pointed out was necessary if she were to give up her life with the witches.

The pair stalked new prey: a rock dragon, which had been sighted nearby. The hide of such a creature would make excellent armor, and its meat would feed the clan for days, perhaps even weeks. No part of the rock dragon would go unused by the clan.

But she was young and prideful, and in her effort to show off, Zareya made a miscalculation in the ensuing fight, and her rancor was stung by the rock dragon’s stinger. The poison was strong and fast; her beloved mount would die and there was nothing she could do about it.

Kosta helped her to kill the dragon, and allowed her room to grieve.

Without Ashya, the ties to her clan frayed and unraveled. It was an easy decision after that. Zareya removed a tooth from her rancor – a token to remember her by – and a claw from the rock dragon as a trophy, and left Dathomir with Kosta Luur.

Zareya died that day, her memory left behind with Ashya and the Misty Falls.

* * *

It was not a difficult transition, to go from Zareya to Zesa: she still wore her hair in braids - though it was shorter now; she still wore armor, she was still a warrior and a hunter. In fact, the change from witch of Dathomir to Mandalorian was remarkably easy, at least mentally.

Kosta had walked her through the creation of her _beskar’gam_, and the feel of its weight on her was comforting. While she no longer wore full reptile hide armor, she’d found a way to keep some of the elements, an homage to her past. Dismantle the old to build the new.

She no longer showed her face to outsiders. Only Kosta and the rest of the _aliit_ could see what Zesa really looked like. As far as others were concerned, the fierce, mandibled helmet _was_ her face. It was freeing; Mandalorians didn’t care what she was, so long as she could do her job.

And she did her job well.

The rock dragon claw was the first of many trophies. Kosta was a beast master by trade and by choice, and with Zesa along, the two were nearly unstoppable. They tamed what they could, killed what they couldn’t, and soon Zesa’s belt was adorned with claws, teeth, and quills.

All the while she learned Mando’a. More and more she became Mandalorian, more and more she became Zesa, until Zareya was but a shadow of a memory.

**Author's Note:**

> This version of Zesa is my MMCC character and her backstory. There is another OC of the same name who belongs to the SWTOR universe and who may have fics appearing in the future.


End file.
